Posted by robin
on September 13, 2009, 5:14 pm
Oxford City Colts U13 Match Report
6th September 2009
Marston Saints Red 1 – Oxford City 2
City were forced to hang on to a narrow lead in the dying minutes of this excellent local derby to claim their first victory of the season. With only the shortest of journeys across Marsh Lane, the City team gathered at a busy Boults Lane ground for their midday kick off. City were without an unwell Ben Proper but welcomed back Brian Muinami into the heart of the defence.
Both sides started the game rather nervously with each team guilty of failing to keep possession. But it was not long before City settled down to play some attractive passing football. Joe Roberson stood out with his control and distribution of the ball. The rest of the side followed suit as City started to dominate and after 10 minutes they were ahead. Alex Ball received a pass just inside the Marston half and drove forward before unleashing a ferocious shot from 25 yards which hit the roof of the net giving the keeper no chance.
Marston were quick to fight back and started to push City back into their own half. They too tried their luck from long range and were unlucky not to equalise seeing a shot come back off the bar. The City defence appeared much more solid this week and looked like keeping the home side at bay. However, they were caught out by long ball over the top which one of the faster Marston strikers ran onto before pushing the ball beyond the keeper for one of his team mates who ran on and taped it into an empty net.
So with the scores level at half time the boys were told to focus on what they had done well, namely keeping hold of the ball. And for much of the second half this is exactly what they did to great effect. Their reward came after 45 minutes when Patrick McKenna pounced on some uncertainty between the Marston defence and keeper and flicked the ball into the corner of the net. City were unlucky not to add to their lead with Ben Tombs going close on two occasions.
Marston were not, though, in the mood to give up and in the last ten minutes they pressed forward in search of an equaliser. The City defence held firm and looked far more confident in dealing with the high ball. The boys suffered a number of injuries with Wayne Beechers, Ben Tombs and Joe Russell all requiring attention from out new physio Roger Cherry. But in the end City held on to take all three points in this excellent contest played in a competitive spirit by two well matched teams.
So today we saw a much more sustained performance from City with not so many of the boys tiring towards the end of the game. Many thanks to all the supporters who came along, to Mike Dennis for running the line and to Roger for his insightful comments and first aid work.
Team: J Russell, L Williams, W Beechers, A Martin, B Muinami, A Ball, S Malik, J Roberson, D Dennis. B Tombs P McKenna Subs H Bone, C Wood, T Walker
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